


Claddagh Ring

by JaceRMontague



Series: 30k in 30 days [4]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Cute, F/F, Fluff, Ice Cream, Long-Distance Relationship, Rings, but not ld for much longer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-04
Updated: 2016-11-04
Packaged: 2018-08-29 02:36:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8472250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaceRMontague/pseuds/JaceRMontague
Summary: Claddagh ring/ˈkladə/nouna ring in the form of two hands clasping a heart, traditionally given in Ireland as a token of love.





	

Regina walked along the harbour wall, walking up a steep hill while trying not to fall into the water beneath her. She couldn’t breathe very well, though she was unsure as to whether it was because of the fact she’d been climbing uphill to some random monument she didn’t care for, for the last ten minutes or because of the crushing loneliness she felt even though with eight other people travelling with her – her best friend Kathryn, Kathryn’s parents and cousins - she was the furthest thing from being lonely.

She reached the top of the hill, took a few photos of the monument that she still wasn’t bothered by before taking photos of the scenery in front of her; she had been raised as a city girl through and through and so to be, not only in the countryside but the countryside of a country thousands upon thousands of miles away from her Manhattan home, she was astounded. She took photo after photo of the sea meeting the shore three of the four sides around her, as well as a few photos of the seaside town she was now miles away and above.

She sat on a bench on the opposite side of the monument to the wall and bounced her feet to the beat of the music she was listening to – the soundtrack to ‘Hamilton’, her newest obsession. She spun the signet ring that sat on the middle finger of her right hand; a Claddagh given to her by Kathryn’s grandmother; she was wearing it upside down on her right hand as was tradition, Kathryn’s grandmother having told her she could only turn the ring around when her heart was taken by another. Regina knew the ring should be the other way around but she knew that if she told her family about her favourite person in the world it would sound made up. Too perfect to be true.

After half an hour, she and her group began their decent back down to the small town, desperate for food, and drinks, and salted caramel ice cream. She trudged down to the bottom of the hill and the group began looking for the iconic ice cream bar that one of her cousins had visited the year previous. Five minutes into the search Regina heard someone yell above the noise of all the other tourists.

‘Give it up for America’s favourite fighting Frenchman!’

‘Lafayette!’ Regina called back without even thinking about it.

Suddenly an emerald-eyed blonde came bounding into view, a grin painting her face as she stepped closer to Regina.

‘Hi,’ the blonde said as she wrapped Regina in a hug, the rest of Regina’s group stood watching with open mouths.

‘Em! Hey! What’re you doing here?’

‘Celebrating my favourite American’s eighteenth birthday!’ Emma replied. ‘I hope you don’t mind’

‘mind? Of course I don’t, Em.’

‘good!’ Emma sighed, resting her head on Regina’s shoulder briefly before pulling away and greeting the rest of Regina’s family, who were all still stunned at Emma appearing in this random little Irish town.

‘So how do you know our Gina?’  Kathryn asked, she knew, of course she did – she and Regina hadn’t kept anything from one another ever since they were four and met in class.  But she wanted to hear the story from the blonde her best friend – her sister – hadn’t stopped talking about for two years.

‘I was in New York with a family two years ago, bumped into Gina and we swapped numbers, been friends ever since.’

‘Aw that’s sweet’, Kathryn said sincerely, ‘How come you’re here? Do you live locally?’

‘From here? No,’ Emma smiled. ‘I live nearly three hundred miles away but I heard that you, your family and Gina were coming to this side of the pond and had to come see the famous Kathryn and celebrate Gina’s birthday with her’

‘Quite the distance you travelled, Emma, was it?’ Kathryn’s mother spoke up, smiling at the three teenagers in front of her.

‘Yes, it’s Emma. Swan to most people but you can all call me Emma. And Regina’s been my greatest confidant and friend for two years, it only seems to come visit her while she’s in the country. I can’t afford to travel back to New York but I can afford to come down and here and see you all.’

‘That’s lovely’ Kathryn’s mother said with a grin, ‘Will you be joining us for ice cream?’

‘If you don’t mind’

‘Of course we don’t.’

Emma smiled and began walking alongside the group.

‘So where are we going?’ She asked.

‘Icy Dreams!’ The youngest member of the group shouted excitedly, a little boy; Kathryn’s five-year-old cousin, Darcy.

 Emma remembered his cheeky grin from one of the more recent letters Regina had sent to her.

‘Is that so, Darcy?’

‘How do you know my name?’ He asked, stopping in his tracks with awe at Emma, the rest of the group coming to a halt also.

Emma grinned and crouched down to Darcy’s height ‘I’m magic’ She whispered dramatically.

‘Really?!’

‘Really.’ Emma confirmed with a wink ‘Do you wanna know what else I know?’ Emma asked the transfixed little boy.

He nodded enthusiastically.

‘Icy Dreams is just around that corner there’ Emma pointed ahead of the group.

Darcy looked at the street in front of him and ran off at speed, stopping at the corner and turning back to the group.

‘It’s true! It’s here! Emma’s Magic!’ he squealed excitedly.

The group began walking again, Emma and Regina walked with linked arms and dropped back a few paces behind Kathryn’ family and Kathryn herself who had decided that Emma and Regina could have a few seconds to themselves.

Regina stopped walking, bringing Emma to a halt with her, she pretended she’d stopped to look at the items in the window of the shop she had stopped outside of -a small vintage boutique- only to be genuinely captivated by a gorgeous typewriter inside of a beautiful leather bound suitcase on display. Regina was practically drooling over the machinery and told Kathryn and her family that herself and Emma were going to have a proper look at the typewriter and would join them for ice cream in a few minutes. Kathryn and her family disappeared around the corner and instead of going straight inside of the shop Regina and Emma stayed stood on the pavement; their arms linked, and Regina’s head resting on Emma’s shoulder.

‘I missed you.’ Regina whispered.

If Emma hadn’t been waiting for Regina to speak she probably wouldn’t have heard the whisper.

‘I missed you, too.’ Emma whispered in return.

‘I can’t believe you’re actually here’

‘Well, I had to come see you.’ Emma said softly.

Regina grinned and nudged her shoulder against Emma’s.

‘I love you’ She whispered, her arm unlinking from Emma’s, instead intertwining their hands.

‘I love you, too’

Regina moved her head from Emma’s shoulders and pulled the blonde into the vintage store and watched as Emma asked the shop clerk to get the typewriter from the window so Regina could inspect it.

The brunette traced her fingers over every inch of the suitcase and type writer and decided that she simply must have it. Its price would almost empty her wallet of all the cash in it but Regina didn’t care.

She walked over the counter and told the clerk that she’d like to purchase the typewriter only for the clerk to look at her with a somewhat pitying look.

‘I’m sorry Miss, but the typewriter was purchased almost five minutes ago.’

‘Oh.’ Regina was upset and more importantly – she was confused, she didn’t understand who would have purchased the typewriter while Regina was looking at it. ‘Can I ask who bought it?’ Regina was hoping that she could offer the buyer a trade or a deal of some sorts.

‘The blonde you came in with, Miss.’

Regina turned around and spotted Emma standing sheepishly in the corner of the store.

‘Consider it a birthday slash I haven’t seen you in two years present.’

‘But- But that’s way too much.’

‘No it’s not’ Emma smiled before walking back across the store, closing the suitcase, handing it to Regina and thanking the clerk.

She took Regina’s empty hand and held it, swinging their arms slightly as they walked out of the store and back onto the street.

They walked a few paces before Emma ducked into a sheltered doorway, pulling Regina in after her. Regina gently placed her new typewriter on the ground beside her feet and took Emma’s other hand in her own, looking the blonde in the eye and smiling softly.

‘I really did miss you’ Emma whispered.

‘I really did miss you, too, Em.’

Regina was pulled into a hug and was held close, the two stayed like that for a long while before Emma pulled back slightly, then she leant in once more and instead of pulling Regina in for another hug, she gently pressed her lips against Regina’s.

At first the kiss was soft and tender, gentle and uncertain but it fast became passionate and heated. It was two years of gentle kisses bottled up and exploding into this one kiss in some doorway. It was their second ever kiss; the first had been two years ago as Emma was about to go through security return to Ireland; neither girl knowing when they’d next see each other.

Regina pulled away from the kiss first, the lack of air making her feel dizzy.

‘Wow.’ She whispered, resting her forehead against Emma’s. The blonde nuzzled their noses together.

‘I love you.’

‘I love you more.’

Emma grinned at this, she’d barely ever been told that she was loved, never mind loved more than she loved the other person.

After a few minutes Regina picked up the typewriter, and the two walked to the ice cream store.

They entered and sat with Regina’s almost family where two untouched bowls of melting salted caramel ice cream sat.

‘I ordered them for you when we first got here, I didn’t think you’d both be so long.’ Kathryn’s mother said as the two girls sat next to each other on the bench seat.

‘Nor did I.’ Emma admitted with a grin ‘But Regina insisted on inspecting every millimetre of the typewriter before she bought it.’

Kathryn’s mother looked at the typewriter and her smile faltered for just a second, she knew that Regina was absolutely smitten with the typewriter but there was one small issue.

‘Regina dear, how are you going to get that back to New York? It’s too big and too heavy to bring it in your suitcase.’

Before Regina even had a chance to open her mouth, or even think about the answer, Emma spoke up.

‘Oh, I can have it sent over with all my things. That is if you don’t mind waiting a few weeks for it.’

‘What’d you mean you’re having all your things sent over to America?’ Regina inquired, suddenly feeling the tiniest bit defensive that she didn’t about this.

‘I didn’t want to say anything until it was certain but I got a place at NYU though some scholarship-programme thing.’ Emma said with a grin ‘I start there this year.’

Regina grinned, not only was her girlfriend moving to New York but she was starting at NYU at the same time Regina herself was.

‘That is incredible!’ Regina exclaimed, wrapping Emma in another hug.

 The rest of the day went by in a blur, Emma and Regina had been left to their own devices, Emma wanted to see the monument Regina had visited that morning. Kathryn and her family had refused to climb the hill again, telling the teenagers to meet them for dinner that evening.

This time though, when Regina climbed the hill her chest felt fine, she had Emma by her side, holding her hand, and her Claddagh ring was the right around. Her heart was taken and she didn’t care who knew.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all enjoyed this and that you're all well


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